in the arms of pripyat (the only home i know)
by maxii.caulfieldx
Summary: When the stress brought by the backlash and fallout of Dumbledore's death proved too much, Harry left the Burrow to the comfort of his only true home- the lost city of Pripyat. Now it is up to Hermione to help him with his sorrows. (oneshot)(xover (idea) with Chernobyl because an actor from HP played a role in the miniseries)


**So, this came up on my mind- When I found out that the actor who played Fomin in the Chernobyl miniseries was also Harry's dad in the movies, I just couldn't help some... thoughts appear in my mind. Lol.**

**I was originally thinking of a crackfic (more like a friend suggested it to me) but it so happened that a piano version of 'Who Wants To Live Forever' played that things took a more... Sirius turn.**

**My very first one here, so, constructive criticism? Hope it's okay...  
**

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**To Mia, who gave me the push to publish it.  
**

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He had dark moments and happy moments, but then, just like any other person, all of that can accumulate until they reach a breaking point.

For Harry, the stress caused by Dumbledore's passing was the event horizon that caused such collapse.

Then came the emotions.

Anger. _Sadness_. **_Guilt_**.

Those were the emotions running strong in Harry's head. It had been that way for weeks after Scrimgeour's visit- a rift seemed to grow between them- Ron and Hermione arguing more, and Harry just watching...

After some time he couldn't take it anymore.

Harry needed the space to think and sort his mind out. He made up his mind.

It was time to return home again. The only true home in his heart- not Godric's Hollow, not Hogwarts, not Grimmauld Place.

Pripyat.

Pripyat, the place he was raised in.

Pripyat, the Rose that gave him a chance to truly experience life.

Pripyat, the home that was taken away from him and thousands of others because of a failed safety test.

That night, Harry walked out to the edge of the wards that protect the Burrow-

"Harry."

He looked around and saw Mr Weasley walk towards him.

"I have to go for a while, Mr Weasley. I can't bear to see them like this. I just cannot share that burden with them..." Harry said.

Arthur stood beside him. He gave Harry a short smile of understanding.

"Just tell Hermione when she asks- she'll know where to look for me. I'll return, it's just that I have to leave for a while."

"I know- I cannot stop you... Just be safe out there." Arthur gave Harry a short squeeze on the shoulder.

* * *

"Where's Harry?" Hermione asked the next morning.

Harry's absence was quickly noticed by the occupants of the Burrow.

"He left. He needed some time to think- well, actually, there's one person he needs right now," Arthur said from his place on the sofa...

Her face fell-

Sadness. Overwhelming sadness and pain.

It flooded her thoughts- she just fell onto her knees and broke down at her place on the stairwell.

The tears kept on falling.

"We messed up, didn't we? I messed up- I drove him away because of my problems-"

She felt so angry at herself- because she was not able to handle her problems, she felt like she drove the person she loved away from her.

"It doesn't matter now. **Go**. Go to him." Arthur spoke softly.

The sorrow in his face made the guilt in her swell.

"You'll know where to find him."

It was spoken softly, yet Arthur's voice seemed to be very loud.

At that moment, Hermione retreated to her room and cried.

She had to get to him.

And she knows where to find him.

Determination set in her face, and she set out to be there with Harry-

She set out to be with the person she loved.

* * *

**(Queen- Forever (a piano rendition of 'Who Wants To Live Forever'))**

When Harry heard the crack of Apparation, he knew Hermione had arrived. For something so quiet, the fact that the city below him was empty has made it a sound so loud, reverberating around the empty bowels of the city.

The Liquidators were long gone; even though the accident in Chernobyl only occurred a few years ago, all the radiation in Pripyat has been Vanished, making the area safe again. Muggle repellants and Notice-Me-Not charms have been placed to prevent them from entering.

Every time Harry returned to the city, he made sure to keep the city maintained, only leaving a few strays to remind him of the costs of everything.

For all the effort, Pripyat looks almost the same as when all those people left it for the last time.

The wind blew gently around Harry's face as he gazed down at the empty city below him.

"It's so beautiful out here, isn't it?"

Harry didn't need to look behind, for he knew without a doubt who it is.

He kept his pensive gaze upon the city- Lenin Square, with all the roses, the Palace of Culture, the hotel complex visible, is still in the state the people have left it in.

After a moment, Harry turned his head behind him and raised an arm to beckon Hermione to sit beside him.

"It truly is. This is my home- here it is in all her glory.."

The roses that cover almost every corner of the city, the well-placed grasslands, sidewalks and road systems, the symmetry and aesthetic in each building is a solid testament to their statements and the thoughts before theirs.

'Only the people are missing', he mused.

With the upcoming war against Voldemort, he can take necessary steps to possibly use the city as a safe house and base of operations for the opposition.

He just hopes that the former residents will take solace in the fact that their home would be used as a stronghold of the light.

Hopefully... not great, not terrible.

Maybe.

Harry was brought out of his musings as Hermione sat down beside him- there by the ledge of the 16-floor house, feet dangling. The only thing holding them back is their distance from the edge and the protective railing.

From that place, the insignia of the former Soviet Union seemed to loom over them.

"It's amazing, right? 50 000 people once lived here. Now I am the only one left. I suppose I cannot leave- Pripyat is my home. I take care of her every time I go here," Harry said, as he just kept looking, reminiscing...

"My childhood was here. **Is here**. I got lucky, I suppose- I was supposed to go to my maternal relatives but they hate anything related to magic- anything related to our world.."

He was lucky. After Lily and James died, one of the foreign Potter relatives, Nikolai Fomin, took him in when word reached about their deaths and the destruction of Voldemort. Fomin took him in as a part of his family and raised him.

It just happened that Fomin was one of the directors of the operations in the Chernobyl power plant.

Harry spent the important first years of his life in the city of Pripyat- he was already old enough to vividly recall things when the News came.

He remembered those life-changing hours when they were told to evacuate- the arrival of the soldiers, the Liquidators and the KGB; the seemingly endless flow of the buses; the haunting voice that carried out the broadcast; seeing all that smoke rising above the exploded reactor...

Later on, a group of magical residents from the _atomograd_ decided to return and take back the city-magically removing the dangerous radiation as they went. Harry learned of this during one summer, and he decided to try and help them. They succeeded, but as time passed, those of the group left one by one until only Harry was left to take care of it.

Hermione laid her head on Harry's shoulder. They fell silent for a time, just having a sense of comfort by their presences.

"Thank you, Hermione," Harry suddenly said.

Hermione slightly started, feeling surprised at the sudden statement.

"For what?" she asked.

Silence. For a moment.

He thought of the moments Hermione stayed by him in both dark and bright. Where Hermione helped him and him, her. The six years of companionship they shared. For her being there for him when the news about Chernobyl came. That fateful day when he lost Sirius. when he gained something good... all the bad and the good.

Everything, he supposed.

"All of it."

They held each other, Harry's arm on Hermione's waist as she snuggled closer to him. Nothing had to be said at that moment, the fact that they are both there for each other is enough.

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**...Whew. There we go. I might leave it as a one-shot but who knows? Here's hoping (I guess), hahah... By the way, I recommend listening to that piano rendition of 'Who Wants To Live Forever' by Queen while reading the second part.**

**So yeah, peace out, and till next time!**


End file.
